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A speedboat owner convicted of killing a woman on their first date when his vessel capsized has launched an appeal despite being on the run.

Jack Shepherd, 30, was jailed for six years in his absence after a jury found him guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, whom he allowed to take the wheel of his small red boat despite its lack of basic safety features and the fact that they they were both “intoxicated”.

He failed to attend his four week trial, which started in June, and has not been seen since March, amid claims he is in hiding at a Mediterranean resort.

An arrest warrant has been issued and a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said they were pursuing a number of lines of inquiry.

Yet Shepherd has instructed his legal counsel to lodge an appeal against both conviction and sentence.

His solicitors’ firm, Tuckers, insist they do not know where he is despite "intermittent" contact.

They said he asked his counsel, Stephen Vullo QC, if he had grounds for appeal and on being told that he did, instructed his lawyers to submit them.

Andrew Katzen, of law firm Hickman and Rose, said lawyers were not required to help track down a missing client other than in the most exceptional circumstances as the obligation to maintain confidentiality would override any sense of civic duty in assisting the police.

But he suggested the Court of Appeal would be unlikely to hear his case if he remains on the run.

“The Court of Appeal will only hear an appeal of a fugitive in exceptional circumstances so it’s unclear in practice whether this proposed appeal will get very far,” he said.